


When the World Came Down

by braindelete



Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Unresolved Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-27 03:25:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/657521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/braindelete/pseuds/braindelete
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things go a lot differently for our heroes after the death of Captain America. When Steve comes back, he sees the aftermath of World War III and a threat looming over those that remain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to the Real World, Now

To say that he was "unprepared" at the sight laid out before him would have been an understatement.

The landscape he had adjusted to after being released from his ice floe had been drastically altered, and if he hadn’t known better he’d have sworn another sixty years had passed. However, the date read 2012 according to a calendar on the wall in the dirty abandoned room he found himself in. The building was devoid of any other life; there was only some medical equipment and utensils behind, a few scattered chairs, a worn and sunken in couch, a couple of lamps and fold out tables. Folded in a pile on the table was the uniform he'd once worn like a second skin, the boots sitting on the floor beside it, the cowl resting on top but the shield was no where to be found. Without another option and deciding not to venture out into the world without anything on, the uniform made itself home on his body again.

The world outside the doors was a shades of umber and brown, the ground void of anything growing; the sky somber ash, a muddy world without life. It seemed to be in constant twilight; the sky shades of lifeless gray, dull, depressed clouds covering the sun like a shroud, save for a few tendrils of light that managed to squeeze their way through. There was nothing green remaining as far as Steve could tell. Buildings once tall and ominous were rubble at his feet, hollowed out by bombing as if they’d been abandoned for ages, and what he was walking among were ruins.

These were the ruins of a once great civilization.

Steve Rogers recognized this world as one that had been blanketed by war. Was it his world? He wasn’t sure. His only hope was to find someone who knew the answer to his questions. There were several that came to mind. Where was he? What happened? What seemed even less important now, how was he even alive? Steve had plenty of time to consider these questions as he walked down the empty street, seeing nothing in sight, let alone a person. He wasn’t entirely convinced he’d find anyone alive.

Stepping over rubble, he picked his way through the mess of broken concrete and scattered asphalt, attempting to avoid chunks of brick, support beams, broken glass and a number of other things. An eerie silence settled around him, and Steve wondered if maybe he hadn’t woken up at all. Probably he was still asleep. Perhaps he wasn’t alive at all, he hadn’t returned from anything and this was some sort of purgatory while he waited for final judgement. He hoped that any of those scenarios, unpleasant as the might be, were the reality of what he was experiencing. Waking up to a world like this seemed cruel.

Steve stumbled slightly over something in front of him; looked to see what his had caught his foot bending down to pick it up and felt the wince coming before the action occurred. It appeared to be a gun of some kind with a design that wasn't familiar, no magazine to check it for ammunition, but on the side was a name he recognized. He felt a slight flutter in his heart as he closed his eyes , and drew in a deep breath. Stark Industries.

“Well I don’t have my shield so… this will have to do.”

 

In the distance, he saw the remains of a Ferris wheel, and Steve suspected that he was near Coney Island. Maybe he’d find some answers there. If not, it was at least a start, he told himself, to have a recognizable landmark.

Hours passed, and all he heard was the sound of his boots crunching on the asphalt that littered the path in broken chunks beneath his feet. Somewhere along the way the asphalt had become gravel and he wasn’t sure why or how.

 

Sudden sound marred the silence around him. Senses on high alert, Steve slipped his hands onto the gun, readying it to fire. He wasn’t sure how to use it, as it was a tech far more advanced than he was used to. Luckily, the essentials of a weapon were still fundamental; there was a trigger and he knew which end to aim, so he had the basics. If it didn't work as a firing weapon, he could use it as a blunt force object at least.

The sound grew louder and Steve stopped in his tracks. He looked around to see if he could see his enemy, then crouched behind what used to be a wall, but was long since destroyed by whatever destruction had occurred.

“Who’s there?” he called out cautiously .

Steve was hoping for a human answer, but what he received in return was something more along the lines of an inhuman growl. Curiosity got the better of Steve and he peeked his head up from his cover to see what the sound had come from. Out of nowhere, a long arm lashed out, lighting quick, towards Steve's face. Reflexively, Steve moved, his body tucked into a tight roll. Undeterred, Steve's assailant leaped at him, swinging wildly. Breath in his throat, Steve somersaulted over the ... thing, and blindly, he swung the gun, sighted its head in his sights and fired.

Its barrel fired what reminded him of one of Iron Man’s repulsor rays- a straight, sharp; punch of power- and it hit whatever his attack was straight in the chest. It went down and remained motionless on the ground. He waited. One, two, three, four… and it stayed down.

Steve took a breath, took a moment to let the adrenaline subside, let himself relax. He moved in, slowly, gun trained and aimed steady on the corpse, just in case it got up and attacked again. When he got a better look, he cringed. The skin, he guessed, was pulled tightly against the bone, and most of it was decayed and crumbling off, like a leper from the Bible. It was tinted a slight greenish color, almost brown like everything else around him, its open eyes were inky and empty, its teeth were rotten and sharp, tapering to a wicked point at the ends. The hands were bony with long, angry fingers and unkempt nails with a yellowish discoloration likely the result of fungus. The legs were long and lanky with knees that were a bit knobby like a tall kid who hadn't yet grown into his bones. There were no signs of any nutrition as the bones from the rib cage were jetting out, and likewise with the collarbone, pelvic region, elbow and shoulder blades leaving it pot-bellied and painfully thin.

 

The crunch of gravel underfoot distracted him from his inspection of the dead attacker. Steve quickly spun around, gun hoisted at shoulder, ready to fire, but he didn’t see another one of those things. Instead, there was something else that caused his blood to surge in his veins... more from cheer than stress. Steve almost felt drunk with relief at what he saw next.

 

Steve couldn't help but smile because he finally saw something he was comfortable with; someone he knew. Hanging upside down from one of his webbing lines was Peter Parker: his webs connected to a beam exposed out of the building before him, wide-eyed and awestruck with his hair a bit longer than Steve was used to seeing, and his face held a bit of stubble that looked unnatural and out of place on his face, ageing him substantially. Of course, Peter was older now than he was when Steve had passed away and for a moment that seemed an eternity they stared at each other in sort of disbelief.

“Cap!” Peter exclaimed.

“Peter!”

“...So it was World War III just as expected. And weird too since the Mayans said that that the world would end in 2012 and… well basically it did.” Peter explained, while he and Steve walked. “Since just about every country had a nuke at this point, everyone released theirs. It was crazy- as if they’d forgotten how they worked. The United Nations was disbanded. We were told to take shelter or get cover wherever we could. We did. And the survivors have built cities with what we’ve got to work with…” Peter was rabbiting a mile a minute.

The two of them continued the path toward Coney Island, which as Peter had explained, was now called the Coney Colony that now had a sect of survivors living there. It consisted of mostly human and a few pre-war mutants, Peter explained. He noted to Steve that he had to distinguish that pre-war mutants were mutants who hadn’t been altered by radiation poisoning. As far as his story implied, most of their old friends had survived. The ones that were unaccounted for were best left that way. If they were alive they’d found some other survivors, and form colonies. Or if they were not they were one of those zombie things or another from of mutation due to the radiation.

 

“What you killed? That’s a zonbi. People that were so exposed to radiation that it just… mutated them into... that. They have no reason or anything. They just know how to attack and survive. Other than that, the radiation has made them into what we call walking zonbi. They’re people that were radiated but still can communicate and stuff.” Peter shrugged. “The radiation mutants are like… stuff I used to fight as Spider-Man.”

Eventually, they arrived at what could only be described as gates. The settlement stood out as a beacon of life in the empty landscape around it. A large man let Peter in with a nod. Pete waved but the man’s view was focused now on Steve. Steve found himself looking away quickly. The man wore scrap metal on torso, arms and legs. He was holding a gun, similar to the model Steve had found in the street. As he followed Peter he took survey of the new surroundings.

“Welcome to Coney Colony…” Peter laughed half-heartedly. “Uh, it’s what we’ve managed to scrape together.”

"Managed" seemed to be the best word for it. The center of the town was what he recognized as an old eatery building. It had probably been a hot dog stand or location for funnel cakes. Now it was the “town hall” and it was the only actual building in the colony. The pathways were built from sheets of scrap metal. Things were stacked on top of each other to make raised platforms for homes to sit upon, all of them cobbled from pieces of whatever metal was lying about. The place had a few people wandering about appearing worse for wear, a bit dirty and slightly ragged looking. It was almost like the middle ages had collided with the industrial revolution and neither had progressed any further. Steve noticed a large hill of rocks and uplifted ground in the distance beyond the colony's gates, a mountain above a city. It wasn’t a natural formation, but one that was likely made out of an explosion moving ground up and out with force and inertia from the impact until it rolled up to form a small mountain of dirt, grass and rock. A top it sat another building, he wasn’t sure what it had been before but from a distance the bricks and beams seemed relatively intact. There were long, large yellow tubes coming from the ocean and leading in through the back of the building like snakes stretched out over the landscape. Around it another fence that seemed to be rusting out of commission.

“Hey, you can stay with me for awhile if you’d like. Until we can find you a vacancy.” Peter said.

“Thank you, Peter.” Steve replied dazedly, while still trying to absorb his surroundings.

Peter gave Steve's back a bracing pat. “It’ll take some getting used to. But we all did it.”

Steve nodded as he took another glance around. He wasn’t sure where to start with getting familiar with this new place. He didn’t know if there were other places outside the walls or how far away they were. For now, he’d just have to take it one day at a time. This was an adjustment, Steve told himself. He’d adjusted to a new world before and he could do it again, not matter how ugly or somber it might be.

Peter entered one of the scrap metal buildings. Inside, it was surprisingly spacious. Peter had mentioned in passing about having an architect in the colony who helped them build so that the structures were sound and livable. This was not a home, but what appeared to be a watering hole. It figured, Alcohol had survived nuclear war. He took a seat with Peter at the bar, which was - surprise- an actual bar counter. Probably it had been pillaged from somewhere, but he didn’t think that mattered much.

“I’ll have a coke for me and my friend.” Peter put down two Legos on the counter.

They were red Legos.

The bartender took the legos and handed them each a coke, in a bottle. Steve looked at Peter with bare curiousity.

“Were those Legos?”

“That’s currency now. Each color is a different value. Red ones are an equal to a dollar. They surprisingly survived the war.” Pete took a drink, and shrugged. “So did Twinkies.”

In spite of everything that he had seen so far, Steve laughed, because legos just seemed so... incongruous. “You use Legos as money? That’s… unbelievable.”

Peter grinned, knowing that it was something to make Steve laugh, especially when he was so overwhelmed. It must have sucked for him to wake up in a world that changed on him- and it hadn't been the first time.

“Hey, I know it sucks here… but… I’m glad you're back.” Peter said.

 

After they talked, and Pete filled him in a bit more on the eccentricity of the new society, they left the bar and ventured across the dirt path toward a make shift series of steps made of scrap metal. Up the steps to a series of platforms toward a scrap metal building that could best be described as a tiny tin cabin. Peter entered, holding the door for Cap. As Steve stepped inside, he was relieved to see that Mary Jane had also survived.

MJ had always been a spark of life in the time that Steve had known her. Time and the change of the world had altered her physical appearance, dulling the bright shine her fiery red hair once held to a more muted orange. Her frame was waif like now and her shirt and jeans hung a bit too loosely on her body. The light in her green eyes retained its luster despite her weathered appearance with fine lines around her eyes and mouth, her skin a bit darker from exposure to the elements.

“Well… of all the people I expected to come through that door, Steve Rogers was not one of them.” MJ greeted with a grin.

Peter gave him a glance over. "We should get you some clothes. Walking around in that old costume will get embarrassing."

Steve looked over his clothing before giving Peter a shrug. "This is all I had available."

MJ gave him a brief, tight hug before going to the other room to find some clothes for him. She returned with a folded selection she'd picked: a simple blue tee-shirt, a pair of khaki cargo pants and a blue button-up shirt. He thanked her with a peck on the cheek before going to change into them in the other room. Although the tee shirt was a bit snug around the neck, the clothes were more comfortable than the Captain America uniform had been.

MJ took a seat after setting out a few plates on the rickety metal table for dinner. The square fold out was more of a poker table for a game room than a dinner table for a family. Peter had come up behind her, wrapping his arms around her neck and planting a kiss on her cheek. They were still happy and that was something Steve hadn't expected to find here with all the apparent misery that existed outside this home.

“I’m going to be honest,” Steve sighed heavily. “I have… a lot of questions.”

Peter took the final seat at the table between MJ and Steve.

“I’ll answer them the best I can.”

Steve nodded and sat back. It took him a few moments to really catalogue all of them in his head. Finally, he took a breath.

“What happened with Registration?”

It was the easiest place to start. It was the best place to start, really. That was where he’d left off. He watched Peter shift uncomfortably in his seat. It wasn’t a bright topic for either of them, because a lot had happened before Steve had died. He could only imagine what Peter had gone through after... he'd gone.

“Well, I mean it passed. And you know that. So that happened.” Peter gave a shrug. “There wasn’t really much else to be done. You either registered or you didn’t- but then SHIELD and the Mighty Avengers got kind of sidetracked by World War III. There wasn’t much else going on after that because America was at war and the rest of the world with it so, we didn’t have time to deal with crap between heroes, I guess.”

Steve was confused. “Mighty Avengers?”

Peter snorted. “Shield’s crack team of heroes hand picked by Director Stark.”

The name made Steve flinch slightly.

There was a howl and the sound of clanking that shook the tiny place as if it were made of dried twigs. Steve tensed at the sound, reaching for the gun he'd had with him when he entered. MJ squealed, more out of surprise than fear. It was Peter who reacted first, grabbing a gun that was propped against the wall, similar to the one Steve had found on the street. He flung himself up on the ceiling and stayed there, inching toward the door. Steve followed, taking the ground heading for the door. Just before he reached it, it flew open.

There was nothing for a moment as the door swung open; a thick, pregnant silence in the air, waiting for an eruption to disrupt it. Then a scream ripped into the stillness of the air and Steve moved to the side of the open door, gun at the ready. Peter saw a few people running pass the door and gave Steve a glance before running toward the door. Steve quickly exited the building, the clank of his shoes on the tin still surprising him when he heard it. He surveyed the area, watching the direction that people were running in. Peter hoped down beside him, the clattering sound of metal shuddering under his weight.

Shots were fired to the East and they both looked to see what was being fired at. On the ground lay a wolf that probably weighed in on the same level as the Hulk. Steve looked at it in wide eyed disbelief. To his knowledge things like that had never existed in his lifetime. Looking closer, Steve supposed that the wolf was likely the result of mutation. Its hair was matted and snarled. The teeth were over grown from its snout and the dental formation looked painful.

“I hate those things,” Peter said, the hint of a shudder in his voice.

Steve looked at him. “What is it?”

“A wolf… just… radiated.”

Steve looked back at the wolf. And then he noted the gunman, who was trying to calm a little girl who’d nearly been devoured by the thing. He smiled a bit as soon as he recognized the person's features. It was Sam. A bit older and greyer, but it was Sam.

Sam was alive and for a moment Steve was at ease. Steve hoped to find more of these moments with people he cared about turning up unexpectedly in one piece having survived the end of the world. But Steve knew that it wasn’t likely. Eventually he would find out who was gone, who hadn’t survived, who’d changed, who’d become one of those things zombie. For all he knew, that zombie he’d killed before meeting Peter could have been someone he’d once called friend. But for now, Steve focused on this wink in time, just looking at his long lost friend.

Sam looked toward where they were standing and Peter gave him a wave. Sam Wilson just stood there, separated from them by the metal platform in the air, and built up on what used to be pipes and bearings for other buildings and rides from Astroland. Finally, after what seemed like hours, he approached, making his way up a set of the makeshift stairs. Peter grinned.

“Hey, look what I found!” Peter yelled at Sam, his voice upbeat.

There weren’t any words needed in this moment between them. Steve couldn’t tell which one of them stepped forward first, but it hardly mattered. They met each other at the same instant, and the hug was as manly as it could be in a moment like that one.

“You’re... alive!” Sam cheered. “I don’t know how or why or where the hell you’ve been during all this shit. But you’re alive!”

Sam's good mood was infectious, and Steve gave him a lopsided smile in response. “I don’t know either. But I’m happy to see you.”

Two hours was all it took to show Steve the entire colony. It was half the size of the former amusement park that had once called the grounds home but Peter assured him it was one of the bigger colonies or at least the most inhabited. He was amazed to see how easily things had been made from nothing. An old car from a rollercoaster had been taken apart and made into a bench on the side of the path. Other pieces had been disassembled into various things to build a house or a table or a well. All of the things had been put together by sheer ingenuity. Steve had to admit, he was impressed.

He stayed the first night with Peter and MJ but the next night they found him an empty shelter, which just happened to be next to Sam’s.

Steve figured that wasn’t an accident. Sam helped him get comfortable in his new home, before leaving him to his own devices, to adjust a bit.

Steve spent some time, soaking in the industrialized feel of this new place. It was built of nothing but metal and heart and people who had spirits that wouldn’t die. He made his way up the staircase to the small room that held a bed that probably had seen better days. For a brief moment it reminded him of army barracks. He took a seat on the worn mattress and let out a breath. Tomorrow, he’d probe for more information on who was alive and who was not, and anything else he could drag out of Peter or Sam.

Lying back, he looked up at the roof, resting his head on his arms. The ceiling had been patched with some wood that had come from a packing crate. It had a fading label on it that he had to squint to read. Stark Industries. Although Tony might not be around, or even alive, he'd left behind the remains of his existence like a mark on this world. His own proverbial 'Tony Stark Was Here'. Steve rolled over onto his side and went to sleep.

 

The "break neck" pace of Coney Colony was really something you had to get used to, like the way New York had been in constant motion, always somewhere to go or something interesting to do. There weren't many things to do here though the others seemed to have a pretty regular routine, Steve felt out of place and found it hard to not constantly question what happened.

Sam watched as Steve lifted a chunk of sheet metal over his head. Today they were repairing a hole in the general store’s roof. Minor things made this place thrive and as such they were handled as if they were the biggest things in the world. Since Steve still had the benefit of his super soldier strength, he was more than happy to help out with chores of lifting things and helping to build. Whatever the colony needed, he would do. This was his home now.

“We’re going to be running out of water soon.” Sam told him.

“What do you mean?” Steve grunted as he lifted a large piece of sheet metal over his head.

Steve lowered the sheet metal onto the roof and Sam handed him a large sledgehammer. Without electric tools they had to improvise. It would have been nice to have them but they were a luxury, since the little electricity they had needed to be saved for business and homes. He was fairly confident however that his strength could pound the piece of metal into place.

“I mean the purified water we’ve got now is almost gone. Without more, we’re screwed. The next colony isn’t for miles and who knows, they might be just as bad off as we are.” Sam replied.

“Well how do we get more?” Steve asked.

Sam smiled a bit. “Well…”

He turned and motioned toward the large tubes that lead from the ocean to the building on the hill. They looked like construction tubing, a splattered with dirt and sand covering the bleached out yellow of the tubes. Steve looked at them, and then at Sam.

“We’re getting water from there?”

Sam scoffed. “Supposedly. Supposedly we’re supposed to be running a water purification plant up there. I have yet to see it produce anything. I think it’s worthless. The idea was with purified water we’d be able to start growing crops and making this place well…”

Steve looked around and couldn’t help but smile. He knew what Sam was going to say. They needed to make this place liveable. He sighed and sat down on the edge of a platform, watching his feet dangle over the earth below.

“Who’s up there, running the show? Someone capable I hope.” Steve took a swig from the bottle of coke Sam handed him.

“We don’t know. Place is restricted. But whoever it is, they better hurry it up.”

For a moment he could have sworn Sam sounded worried. When Sam sat beside him there was silence for a long stretch as they stared out at the outline of the sun behind the clouds. Silence passed between them though both had many things to say to the other but there seemed to be no words to start the conversation.

After several moments passed, it was Steve who spoke first.

"Who’s still alive?” Steve asked, quietly.

Sam shrugged. “I hear that the Pyms are still around. I think they’re in another colony. Hank was here for a while but he heard a rumor about Jan being alive and I haven’t really heard about him since. Word gets around, although slowly, so I’d have heard if he was dead.”

Steve nodded, closing his eyes.

“Clint’s around. He never stays anywhere long. He comes and goes, carries things between colonies, he likes to chase off the zonbi.” Sam smirked.

“Of course he does.” Steve smiled.

“People are here and there. I don’t really hear much and I wasn’t interested in hearing about casualties. I know a few people died in the war.”

Steve shook his head slowly. “I’ll get a death toll later.”

Sam accepted that and they were quiet again. When the drink was finished, Steve stood and got back to work. He needed to think. He needed some time to clear his head. There were things he wanted to ask and know about but wasn’t sure he would be ready for the answers. Right now, his mind was too overloaded with the details of his new existence. The water plant, the fact that no one knew what was going on up there and that no one was making sure things were going on up there as planned, worried him.

“Why hasn’t anyone gone up there?” he finally blurted.

It wasn’t really directed to Sam, but Sam answered.

“Can’t get in, trip's dangerous, people are scared of what’s out there… take your pick. You were here when I killed that wolf, there is much worse out there.”

Steve sighed, taking in his surroundings, until a thought came to him. “Well, what if I went?”

Sam paused and looked up at him, holding a piece of metal in his hand.

“You really want to do that?”

Steve grinned. “I chose to face the Nazis. I chose to be Captain America. I think I can handle whatever’s out there.”

Sam couldn’t argue with that.

That night the two of them had dinner with Peter and MJ and she’d made a meal of something that came from a box. It was an instant meal, she’d told them, just add water, and they ate it without complaint the way soldiers eat rationed meals, as there were no other options. For a moment, as they talked over the meal Steve felt like things weren’t so bad. If he kept his mind on the conversation, one could almost forget that they were sitting on the remains of the world . It would take time but as long as he kept by these friends he’d found, he’d manage to adjust to this time too. But there was a slight nagging question he had to ask, even though he knew it might bring the mood of the room down.

“I need to ask one thing. I’ve been thinking of the best way to bring it up but I haven’t really…” Steve stopped, knowing how awkward the subject was going to be. “Where’s Stark?”

Silence filled the room like a thick fog as if Steve had just inadvertently spoken the word of the devil in a church.

Peter looked at his plate and didn’t really respond. Neither did MJ. For a moment he felt his heart clench. They had been enemies towards the end and if he had to be honest, he’d been pretty pissed to his grave. Despite everything though, Tony Stark had still been a close friend. By the reaction he got, it was very clear to him they were about to name his former friend as one of the casualties. After all, Tony had been the director of SHIELD and Peter had mentioned SHIELD’s efforts in the third war.

Sam broke the silence.

“It’s nothing but rumor, that Stark’s around,” his tone dripped the same contempt it always had for Tony. “If he is alive, then fuck him. He’s probably off in some ivory tower somewhere sheltered from what’s outside world. Let him stay there.”

Steve felt a bit annoyed by Sam's censure. Tony may have been a lot of things, but he’d never been the kind to ignore problems, at least not as long as Steve had known him. If he wasn’t trying to help, then he was likely incapable of doing so, which confirmed Tony Stark was dead.

“I heard that he'd been exposed to the radiation. I don’t know how badly. That’s all I know.” Peter chimed in, quietly.

“Good. He got what he deserved.” Sam spat.

Steve stopped the conversation with a raised hand. “Enough. I don’t think anyone deserves that, regardless of what they’ve done or haven’t done. I’m sorry I asked about Tony Stark. I won’t do it again. I just… keep seeing the Stark Industries logos and it hadn’t really crossed my mind because of how things ended between us.”

Peter swallowed before speaking. “I know you and he were... close. Even had some sort of bromance thing going on. Even though I thought he was a tool sometimes. But yeah, you're right if he's not helping it’s because he can’t. He could be in another colony. I don’t think he’s dead. I think he’s out there somewhere.”

Steve shook his head, taking a drink of his coke. “Forget it. Let’s change the subject. Alive or dead, it doesn’t matter.”

Sam was happy to oblige. The conversation quickly changed to the conversation they’d had earlier in the day. The colony was officially on alert about the use of water because they were running dangerously low. As yet, there was no source of income of new fresh water. If things weren't complicated enough, there wasn’t enough manpower to send out scouts to other colonies. Without water the colony would go under. Their resources were dwindling.

“I’m going to go to the hill tomorrow and find out what’s going on up there,” Steve declared. “Maybe I can help.”

“Steve that’s… not a great idea. You don’t know the terrain.” Sam's voice was harsh in its certainty.

“So I won’t go alone. You come with me. You know the area. You know what the colony needs better than I do. It’ll be like old times.” Steve gave him a small grin.

Sam shook his head. “I’m needed here.”

For a moment, Steve felt deflated. He wanted Sam to go with him, but he knew they couldn’t afford to lose the manpower. He wanted this to be like old times where he could say Avengers Assemble and they’d follow suit… and Jan and Hank would be there, Clint, Wanda, Vision… even Tony. But that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t their leader now. He was an outsider again; he was the new guy.

“I’ll go,” Peter piped up. “I’m not really considered man power around here unless they need the old web shooting and I could use the adventure. Besides, I have to admit, the Stark guns make it like a video game.”

Steve surreptitiously stole a look at MJ. Her frown and narrowed eyes, indicated her displeasure. However, when she saw the excitement on Peter’s face , her features softened considerably. Peter missed playing hero; she’d known that for a long time. The most action he’d seen close to being Spider-Man was showing off his powers to the kids in the colony, building webs for them to use as trampolines and slingshots.

Resigned, MJ let out a breath. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

Peter grinned. “I always am, MJ. I’ll come back home safe and sound. Besides, I’ve got Captain America on my side. Nothing could go wrong.”

Steve laughed at Peter's good humor. “So tomorrow then, bright end early we’ll head up and see what’s going on at that water plant.”

“I’m there!”

 

Peter Parker was ready, willing and able to go the next morning, and sharply rapping at Steve's door.

When Steve opened the door there was Pete, bouncing back and forth from his heels to the balls of his feet with an excitement that Steve couldn’t help but be amused by. It wasn’t like they did this every day. The survivors around here had spent most of the time confined in the colony for safety. He was not even sure what Peter was doing out and about when he’d run into Steve initially. He figured he’d ask about it later, maybe it would make for good conversation on their journey.

“So how long do you think we’ll be away?” Peter asked.

“Sam plotted it out for me the best way he could. He imagines it’ll take us about two days to get there, two days back. Of course, if everything goes smoothly.” Steve replied.

Peter was suitably dressed for the trek with a pair of light trousers with cargo pockets, a light tee shirt and a button up over it, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His feet covered by hiking boots, none of which appeared to be clean or spared from the stain of this new world. The one plus of this new world was that there had been accessible fabrics and clothing. Peter had explained that a warehouse near where he had been living remained untouched by the bomb blast had been filled with the essentials of a wardrobe, so they took it with them to the colony. Thankfully clothing wasn’t as scarce as food and water. Slung over Peter's shoulder, was a worn backpack, and a holster on his hip holding one of the heavy-duty rifles. He also had another more powerful looking weapon on his back. Steve smirked. He never thought he’d see the day where Peter Parker looked more like the Punisher than Spider-Man. But Peter couldn’t have looked more thrilled.

“MJ gave us some food and stuff. And we’ve got some bottled water.” he grinned.

Steve nodded and threw his gun over his shoulder, he then. Threw his own pack over his other shoulder and gave Peter a smile.

“Let’s go. We’ve got a journey ahead of us.” he said.

“Cap and Spidey’s Excellent Adventure!” Peter cheered.

Steve laughed. “What?”

Peter shook his head dismissively. “It was a movie…Bill and Ted’s Excellent… never mind, Cap.”

The two of them headed out the door and toward the gates of the colony with Peter bouncing a bit with each step. Peter still enjoyed adventuring and even it was just a couple days toward the water plant, it was a lot more action than sitting around the colony trying to figure out what to do with his life. They talked about various things as they headed toward the water plant. Peter talked a bit more about the war, about saving a little girl who had buried under the aftermath of an explosion and how he’d been there when New York fell.

“Actually… when I came out of the bomb shelter the first person I saw was Iron Man. Well, I saw Tony.” Peter said, quietly.

Steve wasn’t sure how to respond. Part of him felt relieved to have any information on Tony, but there was another part that still felt his blood surge when he heard the name. However, it was over now. A lot had happened between them and there had been no closure in the end. When he died he and Tony had still been on opposite sides. Probably none of the negative emotions would change if he saw him again, but by the same token, their feud was negated now. There was no registration. There were no heroes and no SHIELD.

Peter continued, “He saw me too. He asked if I was okay, and I told him I was, that I’d been in the shelter. He removed his faceplate then and he looked… pained. I think he’d been hurt. He told me he was glad I was all right and he was going to work. I haven’t seen him since.”

Steve stopped. “He was hurt?”

“The armor looked damaged. One of the rumors I’d heard was he was out in the world when the nuke hit New York. He was in his armor but I don’t know… I think that might have killed him.”

There was silence after that. Steve wasn’t sure how to handle that information. A different subject would probably be better but now his mind was on the well being of his former friend. Whether or not Stark was alive or if he was injured, if he’d become one of those things… Steve wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“But hey… you know… never thought I’d get to say I live in AstroLand!” Peter could sense the atmosphere had gotten somber.

Steve chuckled. “I would have loved that as a kid.”

“Who wouldn’t have?”

They passed through another colony but it appeared abandoned; a few structures like the ones from Coney were unfinished and the entire area carried the aura of a deserted ghost town. Peter made a disgusted noise when he stepped over the body of a zonbi. Steve drew his gun to be sure that he was ready on the chance that there were more and not all of them were dead. Another one was lying beside the hollow building; around him were about 30 to 50 legos in varying colors. Peter come over and started to collect them up, putting them into his pockets. He kept half of them and gave the other half to Steve.

“Look you get what you can around here…” Peter said softly.

“I’m not judging.” came Steve’s reply.

Steve looked down at his handful of legos before shoving them in his pocket. He took a deep breath, peeking his head into the hovel of a home beside to his left, and then stepped back. He let out a strained noise of discomfort.

“What is it?” Peter readied his gun.

Steve shook his head. “No, nothing. Just don’t look in there.”

Peter (who looked rather unnatural with his gun like a child playing in his dad’s closet with a big bad toy rifle) looked in anyway. He jumped back, diverting his eyes before his stomach twisted. Inside was the aftermath of the zonbi attacking. A young woman, maybe MJ’s age, had her face shredded into a bloody mess but the rest of her remained intact. Peter didn’t have long to will his stomach not to protest, he lurched and vomited on the ground.

Steve rubbed Peter's back. “I did tell you not to look.”

“Curiosity killed the cat…or the spider, I guess.” Peter's voice was thin.

Come dark fall, camp was set and bags were lain out for sleeping. The dark was unnerving with the utter silence that surrounded them and there was nothing around for miles, the only light from a tiny tap light that ran on batteries. There weren’t many of those these days either, but considering they were travelling it was a resource they were forced to use. Peter was asleep rather quickly, the silence sliced through by the sound of his soft snoring. Steve remained awake, staring up at the pitch-black sky. Once there had been stars up there, beautiful and bright, a sign of something beyond this world. He wondered if any of the satellites remained up there. He recalled trying to name constellations and find the North Star, and how the city built up higher than he’d remembered hid the stars from few, dwarfed by the glow of man made neon signs and flashing signs of down town business and theaters.

His mind drifted again to the whereabouts of others, namely, Tony. If Tony was truly missing in action it was likely that he was seriously injured. The information Peter had shared, about seeing Iron Man after the atomic bomb hit New York City, about how when the faceplate was lifted, Tony looked like he was in pain… it was like a vice on his heart. He knew he still loved Tony. Feelings like that didn’t just disappear, no matter how much you willed them to. He hoped that Tony was alive and safe somewhere, maybe another colony. If he had died, he hoped that it had been quick and painless and that Tony’s last moments finally brought him peace.

 

A snarl startled Steve, and before he could shift out of the way, the blow on his shoulder knocked the wind from his lungs. It stung, but in the dark he couldn’t survey the damage done. Peter yelped from beside him, on his feet likely led by his spider-sense hinting him to the danger before Steve knew it was coming. Captain America grabbed his gun from the place where he’d rested it and aimed in the direction of his assailant's blow.

Steve fired out one of the blue blazing bolts at the sound of another snarl after hearing the swish of something moving through the air. It must not have hit because whatever it was pushed him backwards as he dodged another blow. He aimed again, firing his rifle into the darkness for a second time. This time he was met with a squeal of pain. Steve willed his body to still be on high alert, because he’d need the adrenaline if there were any more of them, whatever they were, waiting in the darkness to come at them again.

Peter pulled out a halogen lamp from the bag he’d packed and surveyed the area as one of the wolves came in a flying leap from the cover of black at his unprotected face and torso. Steve caught it mid-air with a blast from his rifle that left it in a whimpering heap on the ground. Not willing to take a chance on it recovering, he approached the beast and put another blast through the creature’s skull. Peter turned away with a flinch.

“Kinda brutal…” Peter whined.

“Unfortunately the choice was kill it or kill us. That’s the way it works, Pete. Battles don’t always have happy endings. You know that.”

Steve started to pack up his things and Peter stood for a breath and inhaled the air that was suddenly coming more freely to his deprived lungs. He turned to look at Steve, frowning slightly at his companion's grim expression, as he worked on getting their things ready to hit the road again as the cloudy sky appeared lighter with the rays of the sun beating on the back of its covering. He started to pack up his own things keeping the silence between them. Peter knew that Steve hadn’t slept and that the trek a head of them was still a long one. He figured it’d be best to be quiet for now.

Captain America had no injury from his tangle with the monsters.

They worked through the terrain again with chunks of dry earth scattering across the rubble ground as they kicked it up with their shoes. On a glance as light had reflected on the situation, the first attacker that had been killed was a zonbi. The sight of them still made Peter uneasy.

“You know… when I think about those zonbi things and how they could be people that we saw every day…” He reasoned as they walked. “I mean, what if that one we just killed was someone like JJ Jameson. Or Norman Osborn.”

Steve shook his head. “I don’t want to think about that Pete. Even if it is one of the bad guys, no one deserves that.”

“But that could have been anyone there, that you just killed. Clint, he just goes out and hunts them, you know.”

Peter continued on as if he hadn’t heard Cap’s request for a subject change.

“I think Logan’s with him. Last I heard anyway.”

“Stop it. I said that I don’t want to consider the possibility that one of these things is someone I used to know… good guy, bad guy… anyone.”

Peter nodded and shut his mouth.

As the jaunt progressed, conversation between them became minimal, more to do with the desire to save energy, than anything else. They were running low on the reserve of water they’d brought with them and though they could see the building getting closer, the eyes tended to deceive when distance was involved. Peter occasionally would point something out that was of interest. A colony that had been disregarded to their left because a bomb had detonated. That was one Steve needed to know about, for no other reason than to avoid the radiation if he were to come upon it again.

As they approached the end of the road, at least a five-mile hike toward the top of the hill was the best Steve could estimate, there was a man sitting on the road in a heap. Rifle ready as they approached, the soldier’s first instinct was to be cautious with their advance.

At first the man looked like one of the zonbi’s but when his vacant eyes met Steve’s they appeared to register that he was meeting with someone who could comprehend his presence as more than just something to attack. His face was rotting away like an open wound, fresh with the infection that seemed to spread every exposed inch of his body. The likeness was akin to that of a burn victim, flesh raw and singed by the flames of radiation. His clothes were shreds and tatters hanging about his body in loose pieces that seemed to cover only the essential parts.

“Sirs… if you could spare some water for a dying man.” the man asked them.

Steve hesitated before looking the man over and reaching into his pack to remove one of the bottles MJ had given Peter. The man took the bottle from him with a look of scepticism.

“How much would you ask in return for this kindness?” the man questioned.

“Nothing. It’s yours. I only wish I could offer you more.” Steve replied.

“Sir. You are too kind. Thank you. Thank you.”

Steve snapped off a salute to the man before he headed up the rocky path toward the building at the top of the hill. Peter followed after him, jogging slightly to catch up with him.

“You know… we don’t have much water-” Peter began.

Steve smiled softly. “We are going to the water purification plant, aren’t we?”

After about three miles up they approached a rotting fence around the main yard of the building. It had probably been a school once before the war, as best the two of them could discern by the rusted and crumbling playground equipment that littered the side yard and the large staircase that led to the main doors.

Steve kicked in the fence, which folded as if it were made of paper. Stepping over it, he headed for the door, with Peter following behind, gun ready to fire at anything that came into their path. As they approached the door the sense of daunting quiet seemed to unnerve them more than it relaxed. Steve motioned Peter to one side of the door before readying his own rifle.

“On three.” he whispered.

Pete gave a nod.

“One.”

Pete readied the rifle.

“Two”

“Three.”

Steve kicked in the door and the two of them stood in the entry -way with guns ready for whatever came at them upon their intrusion.

 

The place was virtually empty.

A long corridor from the entrance led toward darkness. The building was in ruins as piping hung from the ceiling, broken rusted and exposed. Support beams had given way and left a crumbled mess of brick and cement for them to avoid in their path. The walls were molded over with the first hint of green that Steve had noticed since coming out into the world. From the darkness came a clinking sound, followed by the loud noise of metal hitting metal, a crash of tools, and a thud.

A resounding curse followed the crash, so loud and fierce that it echoed to the spot where they were. Peter’s first reaction was a shaky laugh, but Steve had his gun ready for whoever- or whatever had made that noise. He lowered down, gun before him and headed down the corridor, motioning over his shoulder for Peter to follow. Peter did follow, matching his movements to Steve’s, crouching down and reading the rifle for action.

“This is so cool… like a war movie…” Peter whispered.

Steve hushed him. The darkness hid his glare, but Peter didn’t need to see his face to know it was there. He shrunk back into the shadows and continued on behind Steve.

As they continued the dark seemed to disappear as light came in a slow creep toward them. Finally, the light was a bright beacon at the end of their hallway causing Steve to move in more toward the wall to keep them from being seen too soon. Peter followed. Their steps were quiet as they approached the wide opening where the light was coming from. Peter stopped in mid stride looking into the room with wide eyes.

Inside the room at the end of the corridor stood a large tank full of water. The tubes from the ocean were coming in through the wall, leading water into the tank and filling it up. Around it was metal scaffolding, industrial steps connected and it all seemed to be running through machinery in another tank. It was hooked up to a large industrial computer in the corner of the room. The light came from halogen lamps that hung around the room and had been very clearly disassembled and reworked so that they were much brighter than they were meant to be and sustained a longer charger. Another clanking sound seemed to come from the scaffolding around the tank.

The clinking silenced.

“If you haven't come back with their excuse for what passes as coffee these days, then you might as well turn back around and not come this way until you have some.”

Steve froze at the voice. Peter gave him a look. Could it be-? It wasn't, was it?

“Potts?”

They exchanged a glance.

“Great. I don’t fucking have time to be losing my mind.”

There was more clinking; this sounded more like running. Steve readied his gun. He’d learned that people here shot first and asked questions later pretty quickly and if Tony Stark had been expecting a zonbi or a mutant than he was going to come out with guns blazing. He leaned up against the wall, but Peter didn’t follow him. He stepped into the room. Steve grabbed at his sleeve to stop him but he wasn’t fast enough and in Peter went.

A bolt from a rifle hit the wall beside Peter’s head. He froze instantly and turned to see who’d fired it before raising his own gun. Steve came around the corner his gun ready to fire. No more bolts were fired, and the weapons were down almost instantly.

“I almost just killed you Peter! What the hell-!" Tony Stark yelled.

He halted his tirade when he locked his eyes on Steve; his gun clattered to the ground.

Before them stood Tony Stark, dark hair a mess of tangles on his head, greasy and dirty and completely neglected, pushed back from his forehead with a pair of workman’s goggles. His features were no different, blue-eyes standing out against the dirt and grease that caked his face and the dark beard that had grown over his jaw line. There was nothing but exhaustion written on his features. The war and the hefty weight of what had transpired on Tony’s end had aged him a bit more than other people Steve had seen. His eyes seemed filled to the brim with a haunted glaze of a man who had seen too much.

Steve and Peter had expected to see Stark looking worse for wear if they found him alive. They’d expected to find him exactly as they saw him - in a grease stained wife-beater and the torn jeans because these were things that he’d worn before the war.

However, there was a slight change to Stark's appearance. Tony’s left arm was gone - it had been replaced by one that looked more like Iron Man than Tony Stark; with smooth metal joints starting just after his shoulder and completing the arm’s structure. Some of the pieces appeared to be from the armor he’d worn as Iron Man, what with some of the wiring exposed, giving it an unfinished feel. Tony seemed to have complete control over it, be able to use it as a normal limb as if nothing had happened.

“The arm was a casualty. Wars have them.” Tony said evenly.

Peter immediately looked away.

“What is going on? How are you here?” Tony continued.

“We came from Coney Colony.” Steve responded curtly.

Tony scoffed. “That’s not what I mean.”

Steve shrugged. “I don’t have an answer to that. I woke up in some sort of old building. It looked like a lab. There wasn’t anyone there so I left to find someone who could tell me what was going on.”

Peter remained quiet. Tony looked at Steve for a long time before taking in the sight of Peter. Then, his eyes flicked back to Steve. He seemed cautious and unsure, his logic outweighing his desire to accept that Captain America was alive and standing in front of him with Peter Parker. The wheels were very obviously turning in his head like a machine, calculating and processing, figuring how any of it was possible.

“I don’t know what Osborn’s people gave you before we found you,” Tony swallowed. “Whatever brought you back, SHIELD had nothing to do with it. Not that… well not that I’m mad about it.”

Steve gave him a nod. “How did…Osborn get a hold of me?”

Tony smirked. He watched Steve's eyes skipping around, trying to avoid looking directly at his metal arm. Reaching up, he rubbed the back of his neck with the bionic arm.

“That was probably my fault. We put you back in the ice and trusted Namor to protect your body. Guess that was a mistake.” Tony sounded rather sheepish.

Steve crossed his arms over his chest. “How did you get me back from Osborn then?”

“Look, my people found out that he had you for whatever reason and I just wanted you to rest in peace, Steve. I didn’t want you disturbed and apparently the choice I made was a mistake because you were anyway.” Tony’s voice broke as he defended himself. “So we went in, we took you out and brought you back to our labs. We were trying to figure out what happened to you, what they did when… well I ended up with my hands full.”

“World War Three.” Peter added.

“World War Three.” Tony confirmed.

Alarms sounded from the corner where the Stone Age computer blared flashing lights. Tony cursed and sprinted over to it, his attention changing completely to stopping the sounds and the flashing. Peter slowly followed for the sheer curiosity of what he had going on. He watched Stark push buttons and type in different combinations of codes, completely fascinated by the zone that Tony was in. It was almost as if neither of them were there, it was just Tony and the computer.

“What does this do?” Peter questioned.

Tony threw him an irritated glance. Obviously, questions and answers were not something he had in mind right now. He hadn’t planned for his two visitors, or any visitors at all. With a gruff sigh and a shake of his head he made a flippant gesture in the direction of the tanks.

“It’s supposed to be filtering the water from tank A to tank B… but the filter has been nothing but a pain in my ass…”

Steve watched the two containers. Between them was a large box like contraption. He assumed that was where the filter was being held. He didn’t dare bring up his interest in an answer; Tony’s vexation was clearly palpable. He noticed Tony watching Peter, seeming to size him up, blue eyes taking in almost every inch of the younger man with scrutiny. It was Tony's knowing smirk that gave away his intentions.

“Actually… Peter follow me…”

Away Tony jogged, toward the steps on the scaffolding. Peter gave Steve a shrug before following Tony's lead. The two of them ascended the metal staircase their shoes making a dissonant clang as they collided with the alloy beneath them. Tony stopped just in front of the black-boxed machine and glanced at Peter.

“You still have your webbing?”

Peter nodded.

“Think you’re up to playing grease monkey? I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t need the help.”

Spider-Man gave him a small smirk. “What do you need me to do, Mr. Stark?”

Within moments Peter was hanging upside down from the ceiling by a long chain of webbing, dangling delicately over the large rectangular structure. Tony propped his shoes into the rails around the landing of the staircase, leaning in as far as his body could reach without toppling over the side of it, which to Steve’s inspection appeared to be yet another one of Tony Stark’s stupid moves. If he slipped even slightly, the fall would likely be fatal.

“Okay, see the panel cover to your left?” Tony was pointing as he spoke.

“Yeah I see it!”

Steve stood with his arms crossed over his chest. There was an uneasy feeling in his stance, a taut edge in his arms and legs, eyes glued to the action before him. He was ready to pounce at any second, to catch either of them during the chance of disaster.

“Flip it open and check for me to see if the blue wire is in all the way. The power's off so you won’t get zapped or anything.”

Tony’s instructions were strained and urgent.

Pete lowered himself down a little more to flip open the panel. He looked into the hole and grabbed hold of the blue wire. He regarded Stark with a twist of his neck. There was a slight smirk on his lips, no matter how many times he witnessed it, people still looked funny upside down.

“Wire wasn’t in at all.” Peter called out.

Steve Rogers had seen the look many times on Tony Stark’s face. It was that single change in the crease in his forehead, the increase in the sparkle in his eyes and the small hint of a satisfied smile that played across his lips. It was the light-bulb face, the idea face, signal that the last piece of the puzzle in Tony’s idea had just fit into place.

“Peter, shut the panel and get down from there, I’m going to give this baby some juice!” Tony howled.

The AH-HA moment moved right into action as Tony descended the stairs and ran toward the computer. He punched in another few codes, before turning on the computer. It was anticlimactic. Peter approached Steve, the two of them eyeing Stark in the corner of the room where he stood with his hands on his hips staring at the computer as if he expected it to do something more interesting.

First it was churning. Water dropped from the box connection into the empty tank in trickled droplets slowly leaking down the side. A few minutes of the trickling before a rush of liquid came pouring out of the hole. Within seconds the vat had filled about a quarter of the way with water as it drained from the other and that one in turn filled up from the ocean. The three of them watched.

“It worked.” Tony's laughter was edgy with relief.

“What worked?” Peter inquired.

“I just saved the world.”

Steve chuckled at the complacent tone in Tony's voice. He knew him well enough to know that his smugness came from the sheer belief that he had in fact just saved the world. That was one thing that he had to admire about Tony; the man knew himself and was self-assured enough to tell you so. When he thought he was right it would take the world to convince him he was wrong and even then it was a crapshot if he thought conventional wisdom lied. It was a quality in the industrialist that the Steve had always admired and loathed equally.

“This is a water purification system. That black box is a filter,” Tony finally explained. “The water goes through that filter and the filter clears out all the impurities like lead, pollution of all kinds and even… wait for it… radiation… are cleared out of the water as it’s compressed and strained. Then it releases it out of the other end to the empty tank…”

“Purified water.” Steve finished.

Tony's grin was smug. “And that is why I’m a genius. If I weren’t an alcoholic I’d say we should go get a drink to celebrate.”

That surprised Steve. He felt himself tense at the comment.

“You’re still sober?”

There was another notch in the belt of admiration for Tony. A lesser man would have let the state of world shove him right back to the bottle. Resilient as ever even with the world falling apart and the Civil War where he’d lost friends and allies with one fail swoop he’d managed to keep his pledge.

“Can’t say it’s been easy. Surprised?” Tony remarked.

“No. I’m proud.” Steve answered.

Neither spoke. Tony tilted his head forward just a bit. Steve took that moment to finally approach the other man. He placed a hand on Tony’s right shoulder because he wasn’t quite ready for touching the mechanical counterpart. His blue eyes caught Steve’s but the shaken and battered gaze remained clouding them so they were almost gray. His eyebrows knitted as if all at once the weight of the life had been lifted off his shoulders for the brief moment when Steve’s fingers grazed the fabric.

“For what it’s worth Steve,” Tony’s voice was low. “I’m glad you're back.”

“Right. So we came to see what was going on up here. Coney is pretty much without pure clean water.” Peter interrupted.

Tony cleared his throat, giving Pete an irritated glare as Steve retracted his hand back to his side.

“The next phase of the plan is to do something involving pipelines at least to the local colonies. I have the plans for this system written down but if I do it alone, I’m going to take years. If I have help… we’re talking months.”

Steve smiled. “Well we’re here to help aren’t we?”

“And I’m sure the Colony can spare a few hands.” Peter interjected.

Tony nodded. “Then it’s settled. All we need are some willing hands and the colony should get water. Until it’s set up, if we can find some jugs to haul it back there… I’ve got a cart to make the transportation easier.”

“Where is it?” Peter asked.

“Third door on the left, down that hall.”

Pete followed Tony’s gesture and headed down the hallway to find the cart. Left alone an awkward fog seemed to consume the room between Tony and Steve. Tony gave Captain America a sideways smirk. With a better view to really soak him in, Steve was impressed to see Tony upright at all. He was far too thin, his cheeks a bit sunken and his body a bit less defined than it used to be.

“What happened to you?” Steve asked as his voice softened.

Tony looked at him. “I watched the world come down.


	2. Tell Me Your Secrets, Ask Me Your Questions

Pepper Potts’s hair was a wavy, swinging curtain around her shoulders. Steve wasn’t used to seeing her hair that long, as she’d kept it pretty short most of the time he’d known her as Stark’s assistant. Her clothes weren’t the snug, professional suits she normally wore but instead an oversized button-up shirt that was dirty and worn matched with a pair of cargo pants that seemed to be the fashion staple.

“The kid from the market would like to remind you, Mr. Stark, that without water they can’t make coffee so until we have some you’ll just have to make due with another form of caffeine. I brought back some…” Pepper halted when she saw the tank filling with water.

Tony looked at her as she stood in the doorway holding a crate in her arms, filled with various food boxes and bottles.

“You… you did it! We have water!”

Pepper dropped the box, and threw her arms around Tony's neck, causing him to grunt and nearly topple backwards onto the floor. He laughed as regained his footing and threw his arms around her waist, lifting the petite Ms. Potts into the air rocking her in his arms as they cheered.

“Hey! I helped.” Peter piped from the corner.

Pepper glanced over and noticed that Peter and Steve both filling up jugs with water and loading them onto the cart. She narrowed her eyes at Tony questioningly, who offered her only a satisfied shrug as his response.

“I missed something,” Pepper said, voice suspicious.

“I’ll fill you in… please tell me you at least brought coke,” Tony grinned, as he companionably threw his real arm around her shoulder.

After a meal and some time catching Pepper up to speed, she showed them to a couple of empty rooms with run down cots for them to sleep in before the journey back to Coney Colony. During their planning they had decided that Pepper should come with them on the journey, though later she declined to join them after it was agreed that someone had to stay to man the workings of the water tank. Tony had offered to do so, but the help from his bionic arm carrying the water was going to be more useful.

Steve had tried to sleep but found the effort to be futile, laying there with his eyes on the ceiling and thinking more than he liked to. His thoughts ran to Tony, about the replacement for his left arm, about how sad and run down the world had become. He still didn’t know what everyone seemed so afraid of. Peter, Tony and Pepper had all seemed rather set on the idea of guarding the water system from some threat that had not yet been identified.

After coming to the conclusion that sleep was going to ellude him, Steve got up and went in search of something to either occupy his rampaging thoughts or lull him to sleep. He found Tony in the room that had been a cafeteria, sitting alone on an old broken stool, his hands cupped around a coke bottle and his eyes focused on the bare wooden table in front of him.

“Hey…” Steve whispered, so not to startle him.

Tony looked up, squinting. “Hey. What are you doing up?”

“I could ask you the same.”

“You know me, I never was one to sleep too much.”

Steve gave a humorless laugh, “Or at all.”

Stark kicked over another stool for Steve to sit on which he did with a nod of thanks. The hint of discomfort between them was keener than it probably should have been. Having talked a bit since Steve arrived there with Peter, some of the tension had eased a bit, but they both were fully aware that this time it was not going to be as easy to come back to trust and friendship as previous times had been. A lot of cruelty had been slung from both sides during the days of the Civil War and regardless of any situation the two former Avengers were in now, the last time they had spoken it had been in anger.

“So… who else have you seen around, or heard about?” Tony asked, his eyes not quite lifting from the table.

“Sam’s at Coney Colony, I’ve heard the Pyms are around but only confirmed Hank and that Clint is off zonbi hunting with Logan. That’s all I know so far.”

Tony let out a good natured laugh . “Of course Clint is hunting zonbi.” he swallowed before continuing. “Carol is at Fort Colony, last I heard. So are Pym and Jan. But I haven’t really been into town in awhile because I send Potts. I’ve been working on the… water thing.”

He sounded overtaxed from the work he’d been doing; the tilt of his voice carrying a drooping current as if he’d fall asleep mid-sentence like a child who wanted to stay awake when he was very clearly fading. When Tony finally did manage to let his eyes meet Steve’s, being that close to Stark it more obvious that his energy was petering out. Deep dark circles of blackish purple traced under the lower lid of his eyes, noticeable now under the low light in the room. A few light streaks of gray jetted through his beard and the hair at his temples, and the creases in his forehead were well set into the flesh.

“So… how’d it happen?” Steve asked gently, he titled his head just slightly toward the arm.

“I told you it was a casualty of war.” Tony tensed, sitting up straight.

“Right. I heard that. But how?”

Tony didn’t respond right away but from the rigid set to his posture and the darkening of his eyes, Steve could tell that it had hit a nerve. There was a single minuscule moment of regret when he saw Tony’s fingers unconsciously trace the exposed wiring on the forearm of his mechanical appendage before finally looking back meeting Steve’s stare.

“When the bomb hit New York City I was out trying to remove some of the smaller ones before they blew up. One of them did, while I was holding it.” Tony drew a short, sharp breath. “I was uninjured, but the armor didn’t hold up too well on the left side. I didn’t have time to deal with it because I saw the Nuke hit.”

Steve swallowed. The more Tony spoke the more removed from it he seemed to become, his eyes glassing over a bit and his voice becoming emotionless and even as if he was reading the phonebook. Steve knew from first hand experience how people who had been through traumatic events: holocaust survivors, rape victims and victims of violent crime, often removed themselves from it when they spoke about it keeping it at enough distance so that it wasn’t like opening a fresh wound.

The need to stop it from haunting them every day was so great that it became almost nonchalant in the telling of the tale, similar to reading a grocery list. Tony was no different and it made Steve shift with discomfort in his seat.

“The nuke detonated pretty quickly, as they tend to do, and I didn’t have enough time to get shelter. Apparently old shellhead could stand up a bit better to nuclear weapons than I’d thought because I woke up… not vaporized. The damage to the armor left my arm vulnerable though… not enough radiation to really destroy it but enough to cause an infection.”

“Like the zonbi?” Steve questioned.

“Yeah. Like that.” Tony nodded. “So I had the choice of letting myself zonbify or get rid of it. The infection was going to spread so…”

Tony took a moment to hesitate, clearing his throat as his eyes moved down toward the table again. He coughed away a tightness in his throat before continuing on as if this was something that happened to people every day.

“When I found Potts, she was in the shelter under Stark Tower and I wasn’t in great shape. When your arm is rotting it hurts pretty bad, who knew?” Stark forced a laugh. “She helped me shuck the armor and I took it apart so the two of us could use the pieces to build this arm… and once it was finished…”

There was another pause but this one was much shorter.

“Then we amputated. Well I amputated. She drugged me up, dosed my arm in alcohol and then she held me while I…took it off. Thankfully it was just bloody and not very painful. Most of the tissue was already dead by then.”

“Jesus…” Steve breathed. He didn’t remember the point in Tony’s story where he’d stopped.

“We breathe instinctively… we survive because that’s what we know how to do.”

Tony shrugged dismissively, although it was very clear to Steve that it had not been that easy, it had been a very real something. He’d removed his own dying arm to avoid it taking the rest of him with it. It was no wonder Tony was exhausted and empty, he’d gone to amazing lengths to survive.

“What about Extremis?”

“When tech went down after the world blew up… it sort of made Extremis useless.”

Steve didn’t hesitate in his choice to reach over and wrap his arms around Tony. It wasn’t anything more than a simple gesture to show support after being told such a heart-breaking story. Knowing what Tony had done to himself and knowing that if Pepper hadn’t been there he’d been alone was enough to cause a tight lump to form in his throat. Tony was surprised by the embrace, but found himself easily resting his forehead against Steve’s collarbone, closing his eyes and letting out an easy sigh.

He was only slightly amused when he heard the sound of Tony’s soft snoring only seconds later.

 

Tony was up before everyone else, playing with the computer and checking the readings and leads to make sure that the filter was still working. Pepper was beside him, taking notes as he rattled off large words about the system and nodding as if she understood.

Steve watched from the door way as the two of them went about their business as usual. He imagined that this would be the way it always played out for them. Tony would be constantly giving her things to do and she would do them with her special brand of magic. They seemed to be closer than they had been before the war, which was saying something, as the two of them were rather tight. Steve concluded based on the tale Tony had told him last night, that he and Pepper gained a new level of trust in one another because they’d kept each other alive.

When Tony dismissed her to fetch him one of the cokes she’d brought, Pepper saw Steve in the doorway.

“Can I help with anything?” he asked.

She smiled. “Sure, I was going to pack up some stuff for you to take with you.”

He followed her as she headed down the corridor where he’d sat with Tony the night before and listened to the story of his journey through the broken world. Pepper seemed surprisingly stable for a woman who’d sat with a man she’d known most of her adult life as he removed his own arm.

“He told you, didn’t he?” her tone was matter of fact.

“Yeah… he did,” Steve ran a hand through his hair. “It’s quite a story.”

Pepper nodded as she shoved a couple of boxes into a worn backpack with a broken Prada logo on it. Even in the apocalypse Tony managed to scrounge up something designer.

“It’s good that he’s talking about it. I haven’t been able to get him to. I mean, granted I was there…” she shrugged. “But it’s good that he’s told you.”

“Are you sure you want to stay here and guard the tanks? You’re welcome to come with us.”

She gave him a smile and handed him the full pack.

“I’d rather stay here. I need a bit of a break from Tony. It’ll be good for him to get out you know? He’s been holed up in here since we found it.”

Steve took the pack and laughed a bit. He wasn’t surprised by that information. Tony tended to lean on the wrong side of hermit.

“Just… take care of him for me okay?”

Steve kissed her cheek. “Will do, Ms. Potts.”

 

Peter, Steve and Tony headed toward Coney Colony with the cart filled with twenty-five jugs of the purified water from Stark’s contraption. After several hours they came through the main entry to the colony like soldiers returning home from war to their small town USA. By the time Peter and Steve had left the entrance they’d become the main topic of conversation in Coney, the gossip and fodder making them local celebrities. Tony was a sight no one had expected and as he pulled along the wagon with his robotic arm.

They met Sam Wilson in the walkway toward Peter’s home. Stark halted at the sight of him knowing that if words were about to be exchanged they were likely going to be harsh. Sam’s eyes seemed to examine every inch of him with disapproval and he could tell by Steve’s stance that he was preparing to separate the two men if it came to blows. Tony set his jaw as their stare down seemed to last longer than he’d anticipated.

Tony broke the silence.

“I brought water… purified. There’s more where it came from.”

Sam regarded the water and then moved his dark eyes back to Tony’s.

“Thank you.”

He turned on his heels and headed toward the walkway toward Peter’s home, lead by Parker with an extra bounce in his step. Steve gave Tony a small, appreciative smile before heading to follow them. Tony stayed stationary for a moment, his hand gripping tighter on the handle of the cart.

“You coming Stark? Or are you just going to stand there?” Sam called back to him.

Tony followed.

 

A bar was a neutral location for all four of them, although "bar" was hardly the name Tony would give it, though he couldn’t think of a better one. It wasn’t quite a diner nor quite a bar but served up an odd assortment of drinks, food and various other commodities. He decided that the best name for it would be general store but the sign outside clearly read Jamie’s Bar and the proprietor Jamie, who was of the walking zonbi variety, was rather insistent it be called that.

Tony hadn't experienced this mutation form yet, the walking zonbi were new to him since he didn't spend much time outside of the building he'd taken shelter in. He found himself staring even if he hadn't meant to. Jamie's face was similar to the fulling mutated with flesh missing off his face leaving exposed muscle and bone where it had been. His eyes were protruding a bit from their place in his skull and he had no visible remains of his lips or nose.

"Stare at me all you like, but with an arm like that I think you're the one who's the freak." Jamie snarked at Tony.

Tony blinked and looked at his arm before regarding Jamie again. "I wasn't... sorry."

Jamie laughed, his voice was coarse and gravelly.

"No harm, meat-bag."

Tony followed the other men to their table, and didn't glance back at Jamie.

Four cokes sat on the table at different degrees of consumption: Peter Parker’s nearly drained completely, Tony’s about a quarter from empty, Steve’s nearly full and Sam’s with about a sip or two taken from it.

“Why were you two so reluctant to leave the water unattended? What threat is out there that you’re not telling me about?” Steve finally inquired.

Peter and Tony exchanged a glance before Peter looked over at Sam. The three of them were all on a page way ahead of Steve giving him an odd feeling of discomfort, which caused him to adjust slightly in the unstable wooden seat. Tony cleared his throat, finally sitting up a bit more rigidly in the seat.

“Ultron.” Tony sighed.

Steve swallowed nervously . “Are you sure?”

“We’re sure. Our colonies are so far out here for a reason. The more distance between Ultron and the surviving humans, the better.” Sam told him.

“He’s in Queens. Who knows what he’s doing there.” Peter interjected.

Steve watched the body language of his three friends-they’d had enough of a heart for him to tentatively call Tony his friend again- as the subject of Ultron worked it’s way into their collective consciousness. He searched for something to say but wasn’t sure if another question was the best plan knowing that if they knew the answer, it likely would be in progress.

Tony spoke up, “If he finds out about the water filter he’ll destroy it and then he’ll figure out who made it and destroy them too. If he finds the filter, he finds the colonies that are spread all over the Brooklyn area and there won’t be any more survivors. He’ll wipe everyone out and he’ll start with the heroes he can find.”

“So you left Pepper alone there?” Steve questioned, a bit more heat in his voice than intended.

“I’m going to go back. Just as soon as I tell you guys where to find help.”

Peter shook his head. “We’ll need you if it’s Ultron.”

“She can’t be left alone to face him. I won’t let that happen.” Tony snapped.

Peter wasn’t expecting Tony’s reaction, causing him to flinch slightly and back up in his chair. His eyes were angry, fiercely dark, he glared at Peter intensely, as if he had laser vision. After a second, Tony regretted his tone and softened slightly.

“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have…” Tony ran his human hand through his hair.

“I wasn’t suggesting you leave her…” Peter smiled a little, trying to comfort. “Someone will be with her… but we’re probably going to need that brain of yours.”

Tony nodded. Steve considered volunteering himself but knew that would be vetoed immediately. They’d likely need his help too, truth be told they were going to need every hero to hand, so none of them seemed like ideal candidates to stay with the plant.

“I’ll do it.” Sam volunteered.

“Sam…” Steve started to argue.

Sam shook his head, before he continued, “I’ve done good things for this colony. It’s like a home to me now, as much as I can find one with the world in this shape, that water is important to these people and the people at other colonies as well.” He gave Tony a slight glance before turning back to Steve. “I’ll take care of the purification system.”

After a slight pause, Steve nodded his agreement. Tony looked at the table, running his right thumb along the bottles ridges before looking toward Sam with a softening expression that could be considered grateful.

“Thank you.”

He moved his hand from his bottle and extended it toward Sam. There was a split second of hesitation before Sam reached out and took Tony’s gesture of peace.


	3. Turn a New Page, Tear the Old One Out

Shea Stadium, Flushing, Queens, New York

Large panels of black glass were pieced together into a soaring colossus of a tower standing nearly three thousand feet above the ground with an antenna beaning a solitary red light at its very top.

Inside it housed a magnificent mainframe of artificial intelligence the likes of which no man could ever design. From the circular base of the cone shaped tower, leading upward, wall-to-wall consoles running thousands of volts of electrical impulses powered by one large generator. The generator connected to the main power system that once powered Queens and had only been hot wired and forced to work through sheer force.

Surrounding the monolith a bionic army awaited for the moment of activation. A few dozen of them worked tirelessly to transform the remains of the Shea Stadium into a hub of technological power. This location was to be the capitol city of a new civilization run and controlled by machines with one single entity at its heart.

Ultron, watching the progress from the top of the citadel, mused aloud.

“Men are weak. It took mere hours for them to turn on each other and destroy everything they built. One simple bomb was all it took, strategically positioned for landing from the territory known as Russia to the United States of America. A simple nuclear explosion of man built weaponry and the mighty species fell like pathetic fools. After that, I had noting to do but sit back and enjoy while they set out there biggest most powerful nuclear devices to destroy everything they’d worked to build. Their mighty empires fell one by one until there was nothing left but scattered survivors.”

As Ultron spoke, the images ran through his circuits, the rumble of earth as various places exploded into mushroom clouds, the anguished moans of people as they saw their mighty cities fell. New York, a city known for its grid of lights, descended into darkness.

"My father, weak human, if he could only see what I have wrought! And Vision! My weaker brother, brought down by the same humans he sought to protect."

The glow of top antenna of the tower brightened a bit as he laughed, savoring the moment when he knew he’d finally managed his greatest goal.

“Soon those survivors will be no more and this world will belong to Ultron. I am, " the machine mused, "the next Revelation. I will be the next Evolution."

*******************

Sam Wilson left the night before to meet up with Pepper Potts at the water plant. Since he could fly he knew it wouldn’t take him long to get there, using the cover of night to keep him hidden from any of the dangerous mutations that lurked outside the gates of Coney Colony. He took with him a couple of rifles, and what he had in Legos to help the two of them pay for necessities. Sam had tried to say good-bye to Steve, but Steve would not hear of it, and so they left it at a plan to speak to each other when Ultron was defeated.

Tony spent the night with Steve in his little compartment, using the sleeping bag Pepper had packed him to sleep in despite Steve’s request for him to take the bed. He’d declined the offer since he probably wouldn’t sleep much anyway. The next morning Steve had found him shaving the beard down to his usual van dyke and drinking from one of the glasses Steve had gotten from MJ and Peter. Tony had used some of the pure water to make instant coffee for them to “perk them up” for the journey. Steve also noted that he looked like Tony again. Steve prepared them a breakfast from the dry meals, despite Tony's disgusted disinterest in them, insisting that they needed the energy from a meal. Tony had reluctantly eaten. The morning had been easy, almost as if no time had passed and nothing negative hung in the air. Tony seemed a bit more relaxed than he had been back at the water plant, his mood lighter despite the journey ahead of them and what they had yet to face. Steve enjoyed his company again, and more than anything he wanted this to be their life again like days in the Mansion and the later time in the tower, when they could exist in each other's company like friends and partners.

"I really missed coffee..." Tony said as he finished off the cup. "That was my real motivation for purifying the water."

Steve rolled his eyes and then chuckled. "Of course it was."

When they met with Peter the three of them started a half a day journey to the territory known as Fort Colony. It was located in the neighbourhood of Brooklyn formerly known as Fort Hamilton and that was where Tony had last heard the Pyms had been with Carol Danvers.

 

Fort Colony was substantially more established than Coney had been; while Coney had started from scratch with the scraps left behind from the old amusements, Fort Colony had once been a base community for the US Army soldiers and their families. The people of this territory had a bit more to work with as most of the houses seemed to be fairly enacted or easily patched. As they headed inside, Tony noted the large tank in the entrance and reminded himself to check on its condition before they went off to battle.

Hank was the first man that Steve had seen that wasn’t sporting a full beard and hair longer than he normally kept it, but Jan’s hair was much longer than she’d normally worn it, hanging down past her shoulders. They didn’t appear to be nearly as worn as Tony or Sam had been, as they seemed to have things a bit easier in this colony than the one they had left behind. Their home was an actual house that had once been inhabited by a housewife and her military husband.

“Its very Army Wives,” Jan chirped as she sat at the kitchen table.

The only real damage done to the building was its missing roof so they converted the lower level rooms into bedrooms and left the upper level of the two story suburban lot untouched. The décor was clearly remnants of the family who’d occupied it before the war, with floral patterned furniture and matching dinette set, dishes that were bright and patterned with an ugly Posey print with matching glasses and magnetic alphabet letters on the fridge where Hank had spelled out F-a-r-t.

"That was the only word I could make out of the letters I had." He'd explained.

For a brief moment Steve was reminded of the time living in the mansion before the Avengers fell, before they had been torn to opposites sides of Super Human Registration. He remembered fondly the times of laughing and chiding while they recounted missions or days events. Moments in the beginning when they were still learning about each other. Jan sat with Hank smiling and stealing food from his plate. He batted at her hand to stop her and she giggled before drawing her hand back. Tony sat leaning back a bit in his chair, his fingers wrapped around a coffee mug almost protectively as if someone were going to take it from him at any second. Peter munched on his food like he hadn’t eaten in years, which in this case was likely to be the case.

“So you think it’s a good idea to go into Ultron’s operation and just… destroy it?” Hank’s voice interrupted Steve’s flashback.

“Well that’s the idea,” Tony sounded amused. “It’s either that or wait around until he starts looking for survivors. He won’t be happy until all of the humans are dead.”

Peter smiled a bit. “I can’t help but think of Flight of the Conchords.”

Tony tossed Peter an amused look before returning his attention to Hank and Jan. Steve smiled a bit at the spark he saw in Tony, it was similar to the one he’d seen at the water plant, a marking on his features of determination, of drive and the promise of something better to come. He knew it’d been a long time since any of them had felt that way.

“We’ll have to get Carol.” Hank said decidedly.

Tony halted as if he’d been prepared to thwart another objection.

“So are you in then?” he asked.

“I’m in.”

Jan grinned. “I’m in, too.”

Stark sat there, for the first time in a long time, swelled with pride, his back straightening ever so slightly as if he felt tall again after years of being beaten down. Whatever the out come they were ready to take the world back and that alone was enough for him. Even if they failed, and failure he knew was the more likely scenario, they’d go out fighting evil as a team again. It felt good to him; it felt right for the team to be coming back together in this time of need.

This moment felt right, this planning session on the fly. The five of them sat there, an amalgam of the Avengers teams, four from the original and Peter from the New. Steve was right back where he belonged at the helm of it all. Tony felt a warmth inside that he hadn't felt in years not just toward these friends of his, but toward the world in general. Steve was alive, they were Avengers again even without costumes going up against a common foe instead of each other. Steve and Peter were their allies and not their enemies for that and nothing more, Tony was thankful. No matter what happened with Ultron, they had this battle together as it should be.

His face wreathed in smiles, Tony prodded at Steve, and said:

“You’re going to have to say it, just once for old time's sake.”

With Tony's words the focus was on Steve. The camaraderie and anticipation for the battle to come, was almost palpable. Steve sat up; his shoulders thrown back, his chin thrust forward, nearly overwhelmed with the occasion himself. It wasn't until now that he remembered he was without his shield, the defining symbol of his alter ego of Captain America. Normally, this realization might have deflated Steve, but it was clear to him that none of his fellow Avengers seemed to let that bother them. He was still their leader. He was still their ally. He didn't need the shield to be a symbol to them. Steve Rogers was still their Captain America. He wouldn't let them down over missing his shield.

Steve didn’t hesitate, throwing his fist in the air, he yelled:

“Avengers Assemble!”

 

Carol Danvers hadn’t taken a lot of convincing. She was as surprised as everyone else had been to see Steve striding up with the group as if he’d never been gone. She, like Jan, had seemed less scathed by the world’s end. Her hair tied into a ponytail, wearing an old army jumper she likely found on the base. Tony had not finished a single sentence before she’d been game.

"You know I'll gladly help you kick Ultron's ass." she told him.

It was going to be a three-day journey to Flushing, Queens where Ultron’s base of operation was set up. Tony had only seen it once, in the early moments of its construction in the center of Shea Stadium. One the first night they stopped they discussed strategy for how they would take the robotic army by surprise.

“We’ll come in from behind, along the stadium itself… however much is left of it.” Steve noted the position on an old pre-war map.

“It’s still in fair shape as of the last time I saw it. Of course, who knows what kind of redecorating Ultron did to it.” Tony countered with a smirk.

Steve gave him a small smile in return but immediately returned to business.

“The best option is going to be going right for the power source.”

Hank jutted out his chin with characteristic resolve. “I made him. I’ll head for the power source, I’ve probably got a better chance of figuring it out…”

“I’ll help. I’ll be no good out in the battlefield without my armor anyway. Besides, you’ll need back up.” Tony interjected.

“The rest of us will cover you.” Carol added.

With a few more hours, they had a basic "plan". Tony knew that it was hard to plan for something like Ultron because in truth none of them had a clue what exactly they were going up against. Their foe was capable of just about anything. Ultron had seen the starting construction of the power source as he fed out of Manhattan and that had been nearly a year ago. There was no way to tell how much he’d done it that time. Tony was smart enough to consider that they were very possibly screwed.

Despite this, however, Tony couldn’t stop the smile from tugging at his lips when Steve went into leader mode.

“Get some sleep. We’ve got another full day of travel ahead of us in the morning.”

 

After the next day of travel, they set up camp almost a day away from Shea Stadium. They’d reach the location by mid afternoon and as far as Tony knew Steve had planned to literally hit the ground running from there. The closer they got the more somber the mood become. The Avengers set up camp before heating some of the strange future world packaged meals.

Tony sat by fire they’d managed to set up with a few dead logs they’d found on the path. There wasn’t much wood around these days, and he made a note to remember to try and carry some back… if they survived. He looked up from the fire when Steve made himself comfortable beside him.

“I would kill for quail with 50 year balsamic from Craft right now,” Tony groaned, poking at the dried food.

“Is that the restaurant where the waitress spilled wine on your pants?”

Tony laughed. “No that was Cru.”

Steve almost rolled his eyes. “I never could keep those fancy restaurants straight.”

Stark snorted a bit in response as he looked back at the fire. He closed his eyes feeling a bit more tired than he had a few minutes ago before letting out a sigh and opening them to look back at Cap.

“Remember back before we broke up… the team I mean… we used to have those big dinners at that mansion. Everyone would be there, you’d even drag me out of the office or my shop or god knows where. It was like… one big family dinner.”

“And everyone would manage to get along. No matter what was going on, what kind of random in quarrels we had… for that couple hours of dinner we were all at peace with the world and each other.” Steve picked up Tony’s train of thought.

“It was surreal. Having the house that full again. It’d been empty for so long.”

Steve put his hand on Tony’s shoulder. He could tell that the other man was lost in his own world as the visions of the past came flooding to the forefront of his mind. He didn’t know how much more Tony was going to say, so he kept quiet in case he started talking again without warning. He did just as Steve thought he was finished.

“We’re so isolated here now,” his voice was on the edge of being inaudible. “I wonder about what’s going on in LA… if there are survivors. Henry…”

Tony hung his head. “I hope he’s okay. I hope the team is okay.”

Though Steve wasn’t sure which team Tony was referring, he was familiar with Henry Hellrung, although he'd never really met the man personally.

He knew that Tony had been close with Henry from the days when Henry played Tony in an hour long drama on TV, and the nights of debauchery when both were still drinking. Steve knew it was Henry's help that had kept Tony sober, although he had no idea what "team" Tony was referring to. In that silence he wished he’d had an answer to Tony's question. He wished he knew if Tony’s friends in LA were okay so that he could ease his fears and his conscience. Having no answers, he simply gave Tony's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

“I always liked the hot dogs in the park.” Steve admitted.

It took Tony a moment to pick up Steve’s train of thought, but he smiled a bit as he caught back up. When Steve saw the smile the tension he was carrying in his chest seemed to loosen a bit though he didn’t even realize it had been there.

“Yeah hot dogs were good. I don’t care what they were made of or how long they’d been there. That and Ray’s Pizza.”

Steve laughed, “You can keep your quail in vinegar, Tony. I’ll take a big slice of Ray’s pizza any day.”

“You know… forget the quail. I’d join you for that pizza.”

“Get some sleep... Iron man.”

With a clap of his strong hand on Tony’s back, Steve stood and made his way toward his sleeping bag. He stopped briefly to glance back at Tony whose gaze had shifted down and turned back to the dying fire, glazed over as they tended to when he was lost in his own mind. After taking in the sight, he left Tony to his thoughts.

“Not Iron Man… not anymore.”

Steve was well out of range to hear the final sentiment.


	4. Don't You Dare Lay Down Your Spear

Tony Stark knew it didn’t take a genius to figure out the outcome of the battle with Ultron.

He had no doubt his friends would prevail against the evil robot but he also wasn’t disillusioned enough to believe that they’d all make it out alive. If he did the Math the conclusion was nothing more than a logical inference anyone could make. No powers, no Extremis enhancement and no armor meant only one thing to Tony. He was nothing more than a man and even without a bum heart and the other multiple health issues he’d battled over the years, he had no hope of surviving. His fears were realized but somehow he felt he should be a bit more broken up. In this case, Tony found himself finding a type of peace with his future. At least he knew he’d go out on his terms, fighting the good fight the way he always wanted to die, if there could be any kind of solace in that.

Steve was lying beside him but he knew even in the dark that his friend wasn’t asleep. He was confident that at this moment before their final show down with Ultron that he could call Steve friend again without it feeling… awkward.

“You awake, Steve?” Tony probed.

“You know I am.”

For a moment Steve wasn’t sure if Tony was going to say anything else, as it took him some time to reply. When he did, his voice was slightly off, shaking a bit which sounded similar to fighting back tears. Steve sat up immediately.

“You’re just as bad as I am.”

“What’s wrong?”

Tony’s reply was muffled, slightly strangled by the weight of him pushing aside the sadness in his voice. It was definitely there, Steve knew it better than anyone.

“I just… wanted you to know that I’m glad we got to work together again… one more time. It… it felt right.” his voice struggled a bit.

“Tony… are you…?”

Steve moved over and rested a hand on Tony’s shoulder. He jerked slightly at the touch but relaxed when the surprise of it subsided. After taking a few minutes to gather his thoughts together, Tony cleared his throat and then spoke:

“I’m not going to survive this, Steve. Logically, if you really think about it, I’m not strong enough take-on Ultron.” Tony dead panned.

“Tony, don’t say things like that. It’s ridiculous and I refuse to listen to it. You’re going to get through it just like the rest of us. You’re stronger than you think you are.” Steve reasoned.

Tony almost laughed at Steve's eternal optimism. “Stop. Stop with the Captain America pep talks long enough to listen to me. It’s… ridiculous to think I’ll make it through. My powers are non-existent without the armor and you know it. Ultron could crush me without even trying.”

Steve knew Tony was right. A deep dark corner of his heart clenched with his realization, as he knew that there really wasn’t a chance for Stark to make it out alive. Without the armor he had nothing to fall back on but his brain and his brain would not help him physically battle one of the Avengers’ greatest foes. He swallowed back the guilty feeling that rose like a sick bile from the pit of his stomach to the top of his throat. Wrapping Tony in his arms he took a deep breath and just held him there.

Tony responded by slipping his real arm around Steve, heavy tears managed to escape of his eyes and sending deep shaking sighs through his body. He knew his fate and the more comfort he felt radiating from Steve’s warm chest the calming feeling of Steve’s heart beating against his cheek, the safer he felt. No matter what tomorrow brought, tonight he was with his friend.

“I’ll do everything I can to protect you Tony. You’re my teammate, you’re my partner and… you’re my friend. And it’s an honor to fight beside you again.”  
Steve was going to be strong tonight because he knew that Tony needed it. There would be no tears; there would be no good-byes because he was not going to let Stark be right this time.

They hadn't had closeness like this in the time before Steve passed. Tony had been less emotional in the last few years that Steve had known him, which could likely be contributed to the Extremis enhancile. The coincidence with Tony being freed from Extremis and his near break down in Steve's arms now was not lost on Steve. He was seeing Tony in a way that he hadn't seen for a long time and as heartbreaking as it was, it was slightly relieving to see him humanized again, if that was the right word.

Steve knew that Tony wasn't weak, he wasn't easily vulnerable but something about his emotions now made him taste old feelings he'd thought he'd buried for Tony. Words unspoken and later shelved when their friendship soured. There was a second where he wanted to kiss Tony while he continued to embrace him and tell him that everything would be okay. But he knew the action would likely make things awkward and strained. He wouldn't risk the common ground they'd regained footing on.

“You’re going to be okay.”

Tony nodded against his chest. He didn’t believe it, but Steve did so for this one last time he was going to let Steve have that.

Neither of them really knew who had fallen asleep first but Tony was the first to wake. The dim light of morning was still a bit harsh against his eyelids though it was muffled and muddy hidden by clouds. He was aware of warmth first as it covered his body and made Tony question waking up at all. He shifted slightly and adjusted himself to find more of the feeling before sighing contently. Awareness of his location came in the familiar sound of Steve’s heart, causing his eyes to open abruptly.

As expected he found himself wrapped in Steve’s muscular arms with his head pressed against his friend’s broad chest. Tony remembered the night before, the talk they’d had, the realization and his concession to let Steve believe that Tony was invincible even without his armor. Eased by that, he sat up and stretched taking in a the look of Steve’s peaceful sleeping form silently thankful that the moment between them had caused Captain America to sleep as well.

Tony stretched and yawned.

Steve opened his eyes at the movement.

There was a small grin on Tony Stark’s face.

“Well. Are you ready to save the world, Cap?”

 

*************************

An unnatural glow rose from the center of Shea Stadium that could be seen from several yards away by anyone. Tony would venture to guess that the light was bright enough to be seen from space but he wasn’t really capable of testing the theory.

About three miles away from the structure they’d once known for Mets games during summers of stale beer and soft pretzels, the Avengers stood quietly adjusting to the sight of Ultron’s tower. If it had been made by anyone else, at least in Tony’s opinion, it would have been awe-inspiring.

“Well, he’s been busy.” Hank said, his voice slightly disheartened.

“I’ll say. That big thing… that’s our target.” Tony pointed out.

“And we’re going to cover you going in?” Peter scoffed. “No problem, that’ll be a piece of a cake.”

Steve Rogers gave Peter a sharp look before heading toward the stadium walls in a crouch. They were leaving their bags just outside so that they wouldn’t have anything adding to their struggle during the fight. Before he could get far, Tony grabbed his arm.

“Wait a sec.” his voice was almost a plea.

Steve stopped and looked at Tony.

Stark dug into his bag and pulled out a roughly rounded hunk of metal from his pack. With some paint and more time it would have resembled Cap’s shield but Tony hadn’t had access to those types of resources. This shield was a hunk of scrap metal forged out of the least sophisticated tools tarnished with speckles of rust on the gray finish.

“I found that on the way to Fort Colony and made it the night before we left with some of Hank’s tools. I couldn’t sleep so…” Tony dismissed.

Steve looked at him, his eyes giving away any feelings he was trying to hide as he felt the slight sting in his nose of emotion.

“Thank you, Tony.”

 

Just outside the stadium they waited for the right moment to go in. Jan, wasp sized, fluttered in the air at the entrance unseen, watching for an opening in the commotion of tin soldiers before they sent in Stark and Hank. She watched as they paced back and forth on guard for any kind of disturbance. Nothing seemed to distract them from their mission as they never once adjusted or changed their steady march. Hank was getting impatient waiting, Jan noticed and finally perched herself on his shoulder shrunken down into her Wasp size.

“They’re programmed to Ultron’s specifications. It’s going to be flawless execution not a single glitch. They won’t stop marching unless really provoked.” he sighed.

Tony smirked. “So we could provoke them.”

Steve tossed him a worried glance but it went unnoticed by Stark. He remembered the conversation he’d had the night before with Tony about his fate in regards to this mission, his belief that he wouldn’t survive. Whether or not he was right, Steve wasn’t about to let him do something stupid just to prove his point. Tony running out as a moving target definitely qualified as stupid, in Steve’s opinion.

“We’ll need to carefully plan a distraction to get Stark and Pym into the tower.” Steve told them, stepping easily back into the role of leader as if he’d never been gone.

Carol dropped beside him from the air, tossing her hair off her shoulders, her voice grim. “I say we go in blasting, there isn’t much else we can do.”

Steve watched Carol as she barrelled past him, blasting from her fists at a couple of the robot soldiers almost as if she was taunting them. He followed, tossing out his makeshift shield Tony had given him as Jan peeled off in another direction to send out her stinger blasts. Rogers kept one eye trained on Peter as he covered Hank and Tony heading toward the citadel, slinging web shots at any of the bionic men that came toward them.

He pulled the shield from the torso of on of the robots who was now sparking as he watched the last glimpse of the two men disappear into the big black building. Steve released a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding before throwing his elbow into another adversary that was looming in on him. Gripping the robots by the back of their heads, Steve slammed their face plates together causing a few sparks as they hit the ground deactivated.

One of them had batted away Jan and sent her crashing to the ground, in a blink, Steve replied with a whip of his shield beheading it. With the path cleared he ran over to her but Jan was on her feet before he even came close, making her irritation known to any of the robots that dared to enter her line of sight. Steve had to admit, he was impressed with her quick recovery and fierce attack.

Steve turned away from his team mate, body tensed for fight, only for his breath to get caught in his throat with his surprise. He hardly been prepared for the enormity of Ultron’s body before him. Peter had some how managed to get beside him from the tower’s entrance without Steve noticing and whistled at the sight of the colossal figure’s shining back.

“I don’t remember him being so big.” Peter blurted.

Steve's thoughts flashed to Tony and Hank, willing them to hurry up and take Ultron out of commission.

 

Inside the tower, Tony Stark booked it down the corridor with Hank Pym hot on his tail, running faster than he’d remembered running in his life. He nearly slipped as he rounded the corner into the main control room but was halted in his tracks when he saw the enormity of it. The room was covered in wall-to-wall circuitry with blinking lights of blue and red leading all the way up to the top of the tower. Hank almost ran into him to stop his sprint before being dumbstruck by the sight as well.

“We’ve got a big job ahead of us.” Hank almost sounded awed.

Tony ignored him, approaching the large console in the middle. He scanned the screen watching the code trace up and down faster than his eyes could keep up. Now would have been an ideal time to have Extremis up and running, but to his dismay he’d been unable to reboot it when all the other technology in the world went down.

Hank joined him and for a few heartbeats the two of them jut stood watching it as if they expected something to change or for it to do something spectacular. There was no sudden change or amazing event, it continued on running code and blinking lights the way machines worked, oblivious to the intrusion of the two men.

“You know Ultron better than I do,” Tony said. “Think you can figure this out?”

Hank gave him a nod. “You want to stand guard while I see if I can figure this out?”

Stark smirked and pulled his gun up in front of his chest, assuming his best action star pose. Hank couldn’t deny that with the bionic limb he resembled the terminator. Or Bucky Barnes. Wisely, Hank kept his mouth shut at that observation.

“Let me know if you need me.”

 

Outside, the attention on Ultron had been pulled away by the attack from behind by four of the bionic soldiers. One of them had its arms around Steve’s neck, while he blocked shots from another with the shield. The metal's resistance to the blasts was starting to give and knowing that it wasn’t going to take much more Steve took evasive action and crouching his body into a deep bow, flipping the assailant forward to greet the shots of its counterpart.

Free of them both, Steve tossed his shield again at the one that was blasting at Peter who was barely managing to dodge each shot. In turn, Peter gave the fourth a faceful of webbing before it could reach out to shoot at Steve.

“Stupid humans. Your pathetic attempt to overthrow my power will end only in your defeat and my final victory over your world.”

The soldiers stopped their attack when Ultron’s words echoed through the stadium like a roar of thunder at the most turbulent part of the storm. Carol hovered near them holding one of the robotic enemies by the neck, having stopped mid struggle. Jan came down and fluttered just above Peter’s shoulder staring up at Ultron.

“Well at least this time he doesn’t look like me.” she quipped.

Carol threw her a look, “And he hasn’t taken over Tony.”

Steve made a mental note to question about that later. Right now his attention was focused on the monstrosity before them of shining adimantium.

“Don’t worry humans. Your deaths will be relatively quick. The pain will be brief.”

Four larger bots came toward them. Instinctively, Steve tossed his shield but it was caught and crushed by one of the Hulk sized villains. The first one grabbed Jan and held her fluttering wildly in its hands, Carol fired at another but it knocked her out of the air like Godzilla did to helicopters, Peter was fast but not fast enough because a robot hit him in the back and he was on the ground. Steve knew he was defenceless before he felt the pressure on his throat.


	5. Raise What's Left of the Flag for Me

“You and Jan seemed pretty cozy back in Fort Colony. Like one of those little 1950s nuclear fallout prep videos.” Tony teased a bit as he leaned against the door frame.

Hank scoffed. “Not a good time Stark. I’m working.”

“Oh come on… I know you don’t have to concentrate that hard, you’re almost as smart as me.”

Hank didn’t respond right away, his focus remaining on the console, punching some of the keys and buttons in front of him in a rather methodical fashion. Tony watched him for a few minutes, remembering a time before the so-called Civil War and long before World War III, when this was a very familiar scene. There had been many times when the two of them had worked on various problems tossed to the Avengers as the resident scientists.

“We’re… you know, trying to make the best of this world. We’re together and we’ve got a chance to… slowly… make it work. So we’ll see. Maybe if we manage to save the world this time maybe there might be family in the future.” Hank spoke absently.

Tony smiled. It was good to hear Hank look toward a bright future. It was rare to hear that from him.

“Careful Pym, I think you just might-”

One a chunk of the ceiling went out, the lights dimming before turning off completely. Hank looked at Tony who’d been stopped mid-sentence and moved his eyes upward toward the top of the tower when the lights dimmed.

Hank grinned, smile bright in the dim light. “I’d call that progress.”

 

Struggling against the tightening grip of the robotic hand on his throat Steve tried in vain to get free. Ultron’s cruel laughter was the soundtrack to the impending finale of the Avengers. They’d been hopeless before and a miracle had always saved them. As of now he was praying that miracle resided in Hank and Tony inside the tower. He didn’t know what they were up to in there but they needed to hurry up.

Almost as if they’d heard his prayer, the robot dropped him and stood stone still like a statue there on the ground before him. Carol’s attacker dropped her but she managed to just clear the ground, with a skilful manoeuvre of her body, while simultaneously aiming few well placed shots at it. The large mechanical man fell backwards without even so much as an attempt to block her. Interested in the new development, she did the same to Peter’s aggressor, yielding a similar result.

“They’re deactivated!” Carol yelled.

Steve gave his former captor a swift kick, knocking it to the ground with ease. Tony and Hank had to be making progress, and thankfully it had come at the right time before the four of them ended up dead. He ran over and pried the hands open to free Jan, who zoomed out with a sputtering cough, turning and nipping at her former captor with her stingers.

Ultron’s laughter had ceased but a beastly cackle replaced it. Steve turned readying himself for an attack but Ultron didn’t move.

“Don’t reveal too much in your minor victory. What is that phrase you humans use? You may have won the battle but you will not win the war.”

The smaller soldiers, of which there were still hundreds, returned to the fight at Ultron’s command. Peter was the first to notice as one of them came at him shooting red beams from its eyes. He decided this time he would use one of Tony’s guns, shooting it and taking it out almost instantly. Steve had lost his new shield to the larger robot when he’d crushed it, as it rushed toward him. He’d remember to apologize to Tony later for losing the gift in the battle as he pounced on one of the robots and slammed it to the ground.

Vaguely he wondered if the men in the tower were making any more progress.

 

“This code is… I can’t crack it. He’s too smart for us. He set this whole place up with an unbreakable code knowing that if we found it we’d try!” Hank yelled.

Tony looked over at him from the doorway to the large main room of the tower. He cursed, checking the hallway before heading over toward Hank, dropping his weapon and shoving Pym out of his way. He looked over the console’s screen, his fingers skimming graceful and sure over the keys despite five of them not being flesh and bone.

“That still weirds me out.” Pym indicated Tony’s left arm.

“Not the time for that. It’s so not the time…”

Stark kept his attention focused on codes appearing on the screen in front of them. Binary scrolls of information flowed through the screen rapidly and without any hitches or gaps. He hated to admit it, but Hank was right. There wasn’t a single break, a single loophole that would allow them access to the stream. Tony cursed running his right hand through his hair and giving Hank a glance.

“The only way to stop him is to shut this whole thing down?” Tony already knew the answer before he asked.

Hank nodded. “Why can’t it be easy, just a big plug or something that will turn it all off.”

Tony forced a laugh and kicked the side of the console out of frustration, causing the side to indent slightly from the force of his blow. They both looked down at it, noting how easily the metal bent in. Hank knew what was going on in Tony’s head before he saw the tell-tale face of the light bulb going off on his friend’s features.

They’d been in situations like this before as Avengers; the situation that seemed utterly hopeless unless some ridiculous stunt was pulled that would more than likely result in death. Tony looked over the console, the dent his foot had made before looking over at Hank again. There was another realization edging in on the corners of his brain as he heard the sounds of their compatriots fighting the battle outside. His friends were out there battling Ultron and he was supposed to saving their lives by cutting the power.

Steve was out there risking his life. Tony had another chance to save him. This was his second chance to protect Steve from death the way he hadn’t during the war but had done so many countless times before that. This was his chance to do the right thing and hope it helped wash his previous sins against his friends away. He looked over the console again for any other option before he destroyed the thing. Without finding one he prepared himself to improvise. Hank grabbed his arm.

“I don’t know exactly what you’re thinking… but don’t think it!” Hank barked.

“Stand back.”

Pym threw him a glare as Tony pulled away, moving the bionic arm into the air and balling the hand into a fist.

“Stop! Give me a minute to find something to beat it with at least, if we’re going to get all caveman about it.” Hank tried to reason.

“Where do you think you’re going to find that? It’ll be fast. One blow and it should take everything out. Break this console and this whole computer goes down… so does the robot army and so does Ultron.”

Hank frowned. “Let me help.”

Tony knew that this wasn’t going to be pretty. There was a very real possibility of shock involved in his plan. He couldn’t let Hank do it because he had Jan waiting for him outside. He wasn’t about to let his friend sacrifice himself before he got another chance with the love of his life. Sure, Tony had Steve waiting for him outside but Tony had already prepared him for the reality that he wasn’t going to come out of this alive. Pym had a better chance at a life he wanted with Jan, with a new beginning while the world put itself together.

“Move back…” Tony warned.

Hank Pym could only watch as Tony slammed his mechanical contraption of an arm directly through the main power computer sending sparks, wiring and pieces of metal into the air on impact. In a blink, the spark blast caught Tony’s arm, the force of it pushing Stark backwards and to the floor.

“Tony!”

A tingling sensation leading to a wave of excruciating pain was all he remembered.

Somewhere between the console and the floor he must have blacked out because he opened his eyes to blurred vision, on his back, struggling to catch his breath. His chest hurt, his whole body hurt really, but he felt the brunt of it in his chest. It was a pain Tony was familiar with, complete agony in the violent fibrillation of his heart. He gasped, trying to force air into his lungs with the scent of burned metal filling his nostrils, a tightness of a spasm in his right arm.

“Tony! Can you hear me?”

Tony grunted trying to force his mouth to form word as he saw the blurry form of Hank Pym running toward him. The next thing that came to him was the smell of smoke. Fire. He hadn’t remembered a fire. He reasoned that the console must have became engulfed in flames with the sparks from his stunt. The whole place was starting to short out, the lights flickering in and out as the power gave in various parts of the computer.

Pym was getting closer. Tony’s body started to twist and shake with convulsions, then stopped, rocked by intermittent shocks. Hank’s breath caught in his throat as he waited for Tony to move, do anything to indicate he was still alive.

“Don’t… don’t… touch me…” Tony’s strained voice finally managed. “I’ll… shock you.”

Hanks mind was swimming with uncertainty as he felt the white-hot heat of the flames inching in on them. With his heart thudding in his ears, Pym surveyed the surroundings over the room for the quickest exit. He wasn’t going to leave Tony there to die in the blaze as the tower went down which meant he was going to have to take his chances with getting a jolt from the touch. Tony’s breathing was starting to hitch, making it apparent that there wasn’t much time for Pym to make a decision.

Outside the tower Steve watched as the robot soldier he’d been engaging with crumbled to the ground as if someone had just yanked its battery out, clattering to its knees and falling forward. One by one the other robots started to follow suit breaking down to as useless dead machines and empty metal husks. The ground shook, casting his gaze upward to see Ultron’s giant form wobbling as his power flickered in and out, swaying with a metallic groan before thundering to the ground with all the power of a bomb going off. He heard the flutter of wings as Jan grabbed him from underneath his arms and flew him out of the aftermath of the fall, rubble and ground rising up and cascading like a wave taking down and consuming everything in it’s path.

“Get inside the tower, Pym and Stark are still in there.” Carol yelled.

Steve turned his gaze to the tower watching the thick black smoke raise from it slamming into the cloud cover and filling the already dim world with a dark veil like that of a mourning widow. Janet flew them toward the entrance dropping him down so he could run in, followed by Peter, her and Carol. Smoke was the first sensation and it caused him to cough and cover his face eyes watering from the sting.

Once inside it wasn’t hard to find their comrades located in the main room of the tower on the first level. Pym stood inches away from Tony’s body on the ground with the fire closing in on them. Steve’s breathing hitched for a moment as the realization hit him that they could be too late for Stark. He closed his eyes against the voice in head echoing with painful certainty before they’d even seen Ultron or the battle.

I’m not going to survive this.

Skidding to a halt, after the sprint that seemed an eternity, he dropped heavily beside Tony, reaching out to him with a shaking hand to check for a pulse. His skin was dark from the soot in the air, the bionic arm nearly black and charred with the fingers melted over from whatever he’d done to himself. Glancing about the room he saw the fist hole and sparks from the largest console.

“Don’t touch me…” Tony coughed, his body seized as he did.

“The console jolted him, his body is still surging with electricity,” Pym explained, his voice laced with grief.

Steve closed his eyes before looking at Tony with determination. “No, I’m getting you out of here and you’re going to be okay.”

Tony didn’t have the time to protest, even if he’d had the strength, before he was scooped up into the thick safety of Steve’s arms. Carol took them this time, because she had more strength to carry the weight of the two men even with most of Tony’s weight was dead pressed against Steve’s chest. Steve held him close praying that he still felt the irregular rhythm of Tony’s struggling heartbeat against his own chest.

They landed a few miles off of the site of the battle before Steve dropped down to his knees again, cradling Tony’s body in his arms. He could feel the fading life as if it were a tangible entity, slipping from Stark like the blood that trailed out of his mouth. He bit his cheek against the delirious babbling that Tony was spewing at him because it had yet to make any sense.

“Steve--!” Tony choked, his body tensing as another cough sent a shaking wave through him and more blood oozed down from the corner of his mouth streaming through his goatee. “I’m sorry—for… all of it. I should have been there… I should have been there to make sure it was—”

“Tony… shh. You’re going to be all right. We’re going to get you some help. Just hold on!” Steve felt the lump in his throat forming.

“Don’t… this… this… important and I won’t have…” Another cough. “I won’t have another chance to… to say this. I… I’m sorry. You… you were my friend and I-I should have protected you Steve.”

Tony’s right hand shook as he reached up painfully slow, wincing against the strength the movement took. The choice to was sucking away the last bits of energy he had but he placed clumsy, heavy fingers along Steve’s jaw line his thumb tracing slowly across Steve’s cheek. He felt the tears form in his eyes as Tony’s life ebbed away.

Tony choked. “I… should have protected you at the courthouse… I should have been there to help you…”

He gritted his teeth, wincing. He was going to get this out not matter what, he had to tell Steve these things before he gave in and let death claim him because they were too important to go unsaid. This was his last chance to make it right and he was going to take it even if that effort was the one that did him in.

“I’m should have been there with you… to… protect you and I wasn’t… I always called you friend. You always had been—!” Another coughing seizure halted Tony. “I just hope you… you can forgive me for… not being there…”

“I forgive you, Tony. I forgive you.” Steve’s eyes burned from unshed tears. “You’re going to be okay. Just hold on! You can tell me all about it when you’re healed.”

Tony gave Steve a sad smile. “Steve I…”

A low exhale emerged instead of the words Tony had waiting on the back of his throat. His hand slipped loosely down Steve’s face landing limply to a rest on Steve’s shoulder before dropping completely like one of the deactivated robots. His head rolled a bit to the side, eyes still open from Tony’s will to keep them so. Steve knew the exact moment he was gone, he’d watched the last spark of life fade out of Tony’s eyes like an extinguished flame.

Steve choked slightly reaching up his hands he cupped them around Tony’s face and stared down at the still, motionless features. He was empty and vacant now, once so full of a life that Steve could never completely understand. He ran his thumbs along the cheekbones just under Tony’s eyes.

“Tony…”

He bowed his head, closing his eyes as the tears gave way, dams of reserve breaking under the sheer pressure of his grief. Steve’s body shook for a moment with sobs he tried to quench as he held Tony’s lifeless form there like a broken doll in his hands.

When he regained his composure, Steve reached up one hand and sliding them silently over Tony’s eyelids, closing them over the lifeless blue orbs.

“Good-bye, Tony.” He whispered before planting a soft, kiss on forehead.

 

Fin


End file.
